Then there would be no going back.
Nadina would be thrilled to return to Mitnal to find him that way. She'd left to insure Storm wouldn't try to force her to escape with him since their blood oath worked only if they left together.
There was no way she'd risk being around him until she was sure he'd lost all touch with being a human.
He'd be lying to himself if he didn't accept that turning into a demon was inevitable, but every time Evalle's face came into his mind he redoubled his effort to not give in, telling himself, I can do it for her. I can do anything for her. But with no soul to begin with, he was left with few tools to fight Nadina's blood that coursed through him. Once he spent enough time in Mitnal, all his best intentions to battle the shift would fall beneath an onslaught of demonic drive.
Storm had watched Hanhau turn a new arrival into a demon in minutes.
His best guess had him closing in on two days in this place, and the only reason Storm had made it this far was because he hadn't been forced to battle yet. Hanhau was crafty, waiting for Storm to admit defeat and roll over, because that would take far less of Hanhau's energy than forcing the change.
Or he had been waiting.
The demon crouching closer outside his den now indicated time was up. When the demon moved another step forward, Storm's jaw yanked down and widened to allow for fangs.
He curled his fingers tight and forced the shift back until his face felt right again.
But when he opened his hands, the claws curling from his fingers had dug into the palms and fur covered his forearms.
I will not shift if I have to fight him.
Storm's body quivered so hard he had to clench his teeth to keep from banging his jaws together. The ice filming his skin dropped another ten degrees and the fire burning inside him threatened to consume his body from the inside out. All due to the blood pushing him to break out his animal so that he could meet the threat and make the kill. It was all about fighting to the death. Not allowing any demon to defeat him. Ever. Storm would rip this one into a hundred pieces then lap up his blood like cream. He would—
No! I will not shift.
The demon was moving with intent now. His glowing red eyes pierced the darkness fifty feet away.
So Hanhau had run out of patience and wanted to see if Storm was as powerful as Nadina had sold him to be.
Power rushed through Mitnal, throwing light across the room, lifting demons to their feet. They howled and screamed for blood, turning in his direction.
Was Hanhau unleashing all of them on him?
Had Nadina's partner changed his mind and decided Storm was too much trouble?
When the closest demon rushed forward to attack, Storm was on his feet, hands raised to battle.
Chapter 7
"I am not interested in any help from a Sterling witch," Evalle told Nicole over her shoulder while she and Adrianna, the
in question, still faced each other at the door to Storm's house.
"Please allow her to enter, Evalle. Are you really willing to quit this easily on finding Storm?"
Nicole didn't pull punches when things got serious, which Evalle loved about her even though she hated that Nicole was right.
That didn't make accepting Adrianna's help any easier. Evalle stepped back and held the door open. "Come in."
Once Adrianna had stepped inside, Evalle closed the door and turned to Nicole. "So explain why I need ... her?" She angled her head at Adrianna who stepped over to the nearest upholstered chair and perched on it, looking perfect as usual. Her maker had packed a lot of body into just a couple inches over five feet tall, and carved it up to force men to salivate.
Smoky blue eyes watched everything and her red lips looked as though they wanted to smile, but never quite reached that point.
"Please have a seat," Nicole said to Evalle. With her wheelchair backed up to the dormant fireplace, Nicole showed far better manners than Evalle by asking Adrianna, "Would you like something to drink?"
"Thank you, but no."
"Then I assume you're here because you heard that Storm is missing and want to help."
"I'm here because I spent three weeks playing nurse and I can't collect on that debt unless he returns."
Evalle had just dropped onto the sofa as far as she could get from Adrianna, but that comment spiked her blood pressure. "That's only because Storm's spirit advisor grabbed the first skirt she could find while I was locked beneath VIPER headquarters."
Adrianna shrugged. "Still, I was there and he owes me."
Steamed at Adrianna, Evalle glanced over to find Nicole smiling. What the hell?
Nicole rolled her eyes. "There is nothing going on between Storm and Adrianna. To think so would insult Storm."
Yet again, Nicole made a valid point, but it failed to dilute Evalle's anger at seeing Adrianna in Storm's house and listening to her point out how Storm owed her for nursing him back to health.
"I assure you I made no moves on Storm," Adrianna said. "Nor did I try to sway his interest from you."
"And you expect me to believe that?" Evalle challenged.
"Of course. If I had wanted him, you would not have had a chance."
Evalle stood up and calmly asked, "Is that your favorite outfit?"
Adrianna shifted her confused gaze to look down at her short black skirt, matching jacket and pink blouse. "Why?"
"Because that's what they're going to bury you in."
"Okay, you two," Nicole interjected. "Retract your claws and let's get back to the business of finding Storm." Nicole turned to Adrianna, "Please don't antagonize Evalle. This is going to be difficult enough."
Adrianna smirked, but held her tongue.
Evalle hadn't had real sleep in days and knew she was overreacting, but she was done with being patient. "What is going to be difficult enough?"
Using a voice that would soothe a gang war, Nicole said, "To trust Adrianna to help us find a connection to Storm."
"You have to be joking. What can she do?"
"Did you not just say that Storm's spirit guide contacted Adrianna when he was injured?"
"Yes." Did they have to keep bringing that up?
"Then Adrianna may be able to accomplish what I've failed to do since we arrived. She may be able to contact his spirit guide, who may know where Storm is."
That was perfectly logical and something Evalle should have figured out if her head hadn't been shoved up somewhere she couldn't see daylight. Humble pie was her least favorite dessert, but she'd eat it if that meant any lead at this point. Turning to the dark witch, Evalle gave herself points for ignoring Adrianna's quirk of a smile and asked, "Would you help us contact Storm's spirit guide?"
"Why, yes I will." Adrianna stood and asked Nicole, "Do you want to be a part of this?"
"I appreciate the offer to include me, but I have to decline."
Adrianna tipped her head in acknowledgment.
"You're not going to do this?" Evalle asked Nicole.
"I'm in conversation with Rowan's coven and can't mingle my gifts with that of a dark witch or I could end up sanctioned, not to mention being shunned. Rowan is lobbying for me to join because she feels it's important. I have never participated in any dark arts, even for a good reason. For me to participate now would reflect badly on Rowan and would go against my beliefs."
Rowan was the sister-in-law of Trey McCree, the most powerful Belador telepath Evalle had met. Rowan was also Evalle's friend. I just asked Nicole to do the equivalent of my turning my back on the Beladors. "I'm sorry, Nicole. I wasn't thinking."
"I know and I would be in the same frame of mind if I was worried over finding my mate."
Storm wasn't Evalle's mate, but she got Nicole's point.
After waiting for Nicole to wheel over to the far side of the room, Adrianna pointed at the rug in front of the fireplace and told Evalle, "You should sit there."
"Why?"
"If you're going to argue the whole time, this will not work.
You must be very still and allow the spirit guide to either come here to speak with you or take you to her world."
"To her world, as in the dead world?"
That drew a pained sigh from Adrianna. She looked over at Nicole who said, "I am placing a protection spell around me to prevent any contact with my skin. I can't be involved, but I will not allow anything to happen to you, Evalle. You're going to have to work with Adrianna if you want to meet with Storm's spirit guide, who has no reason to come here when Storm is not present, nor any reason to harm you."
Evalle stared up at the ceiling fan turning slowly and took a couple of deep breaths. Why was it so hard to pull her head out of her nether regions where Adrianna was concerned?
Storm would go through far worse for her. When she lowered her head to face Adrianna, she said, "I'm ready." Then she sat down on the rug.
Adrianna said, "Close your eyes and push everything away. When I begin whispering, envision somewhere that is quiet and makes you feel safe. That is where his spirit guide will be."
Evalle closed her eyes and started hunting visually for a place that was quiet and safe feeling. Something generic and quick. She was in a hurry to talk to the spirit and get moving. That's how she dealt with Nightstalkers. Offer her deal and give them one chance to shake that minute or not at all. They always took it.
She stared at the darkness behind her eyelids. No spirit was appearing.
"Relax," Adrianna's voice was a soft whisper around her. "Let go a little. Don't try to force it."
Easier said than done. What sort of setting would look inviting to a spirit? Ocean? Mountains? Forest?
Evalle slowed her breathing and tried to relax her shoulders as she pictured each of those places.
Adrianna's whispering filled the air circling her ears, riding a tide of highs and lows until it mushed into a chant that Evalle didn't recognize.
Actually, she didn't care where the spirit chose to meet. This place was as good as any.
She felt sleepy and needed rest. She should just lie back on this soft grass and stretch out for a while. The thick leaves on the branches overhead offered shade from the warm sun that she could finally appreciate.
"So you are the one he has chosen."Evalle blinked her eyes open at the censure in this woman's voice. A Native American female faced her. Mid thirties and attractive in a simple way. "Who are you?"
"Kai. Storm's spirit guide. Whom did you expect to find here?"
Evalle admitted, "You, but I'm a little off balance. Where am I?"
"In my realm. We do not have long to speak, so you should choose your questions with more care."
Evalle's pulse raced.
She was really talking to Storm's spirit guide, who had sharp cheeks and warm brown eyes. Storm had said Kai died in her thirties, but that had been twelve hundred years ago. Licking her dry lips, Evalle chose her next question more carefully. "Do you know where Storm is?"
"I know where he is not."
This might be more difficult than Evalle had thought. "Is he with that witch doctor?"
"He left to follow her and I believe he found her."
"Do you know where he found her?"
"At the last place she stopped."
This could take a while if Kai kept answering in circles. Did that drive Storm crazy when he met with Kai? Back to the point in all this. Before Evalle could continue twenty questions, Kai said, "I believe Storm is no longer in your world."
"No! He can't be dead." Evalle hurt from head to toe at the possibility.
Thunder rumbled overhead and the sun disappeared behind dark clouds. Now I'm going to get drenched in the spirit world? She started to ask Kai what that was all about until she took in the spirit guide's dark frown. Was the weather here in direct relation to her mood?
Lanna had that same ability in the mortal world, and Lanna was an unknown entity.
Time for another slice of humble pie, evidently. "I didn't mean to yell at you, Kai. I just refuse to believe Storm is dead."
Bam, the weather cleared up. Kai had a calm face again. "I do not believe he is dead either."
"But you said-"
"You can talk or you can listen. Which will it be?"
This Kai was tough, even when she was being nice. "I'll listen."
"I do not feel Storm's spirit in your world, but neither have I seen his spirit pass by on the way to a final resting place. That means he is somewhere else."
"Okay, I'm still listening. Where?"
"I don't know, but he has been gone too long to be somewhere from which he can return on his own. Especially if it is somewhere the witch doctor led him. If so, there is only one person he cares about enough to go through whatever it will take to return, and that is you."
Evalle grinned. Take that, Adrianna.
"But," Kai continued. "He carries the blood of the witch doctor as well as that of our ancestors. He has fought a valiant battle for many years to avoid going over to her world. If he is there now, he has been tricked or captured. Either way, he will not want you to follow him."
"I don't care. I am going to find him and I will bring him back, no matter who I have to fight."Kai nodded. "As it should be from one of your standing."
Wait, what had Kai meant by that? What standing? Evalle didn't get a chance to ask before Kai continued.
"I can only tell you that this witch doctor led him to a building that had machines, and then I lost track of him. I could not follow his essence once he left this plane, but the witch doctor disappeared at the same time. So I believe he is in her domain."
"Do you think I can find him where he disappeared around machines?"
"No. I would not waste time searching the last place where they traveled."
Evalle opened her mouth to ask how that was any help in finding him, but Kai wasn't through explaining things. "The witch doctor possesses the souls of Storm and his father."
Evalle frowned. What did that mean, exactly? She didn't have time to ask. Kai spoke faster now, obviously trying to get the information out while she could.
"I doubt that you know what you're up against with the witch doctor. She holds his soul and owns his life, neither of which she will release to anyone as long as she lives."
"Guess I'll just have to take that decision out of her hands," Evalle said, not joking a bit.
Kai's soft features turned sad. "You must allow Storm to regain his soul and free his father from wandering between worlds. Storm believes that the one who kills the witch doctor before that happens will gain her possessions. It's critical to him that he be the one to take back the souls. You must be careful not to interfere with Storm's chance to regain something he believes is necessary to have a life with you."
Air backed up on Evalle's next breath at those words. A normal life with Storm would be all she'd ever want. Had he said something to Kai about wanting one with Evalle?
Kai began to fade.
Oh no. "Stop, Kai. Please. I need to find the witch doctor. Where do I start?"
"Use resources in your world and your connection to him."
"You mean this emerald in my chest?"
Kai wavered out of view then came back into focus just long enough to say, "No, your connection as his mate." Then she was gone.
Mate? Did she mean like ...
Evalle couldn't come up with any other definition for mate except the one that meant being bonded as a couple.
"Where are you going? I want to know what you meant about ... " Evalle stopped shouting when Storm's living room came back into view.
"Meant about what?" Adrianna asked with genuine curiosity in her voice.
Evalle was not about to admit that she didn't know what Storm's spirit guide had meant about being his mate or that the witch doctor possessed Storm's soul. Not to the Sterling witch.
Covering her outburst, Evalle said, "About finding Storm. Kai said she thinks he followed the witch doctor to another realm."
"Kai?" Nicole asked, wheeling back into the conversation ci
rcle.
"His spirit guide," Evalle explained. "Oh, and Kai also said that Storm would only return for me."
"Then you are the only person who can locate him," Adrianna was quick to point out.
Evalle nodded, "Exactly."
Nicole looked worried. That couldn't be a good sign. She asked, "You do realize if the witch doctor is in another realm, it's the kind that might require a dark guide."
"No, it will require a dark guide," Adrianna corrected.
Evalle nodded. "Storm told me the witch doctor is pure evil. He wouldn't even speak the woman's name." This was no time for being vague or testing the waters. Evalle pushed up to stand and asked Adrianna point blank, "Can you lead me to Storm?"
"Possibly. For the right price."
"What's your price?"
"If I get you to Storm, plus help you figure out how to free him, then you and he will both fulfill his debt to me."
"Done. What is it you need?"
"I'm not telling anyone until you're both ready and neither of you is right now." Adrianna folded her hands in front of her, always so prim and proper. "If you don't go for him soon, Evalle, you may not have a reason to go for him at all."
The skin along Evalle's necked chilled at that warning. "What makes you say that?"
"I first heard about this witch doctor the week Storm was injured. A Nightstalker tried to trade with me for information on a woman from South America who was in the city hunting a Skinwalker who could shift into a jaguar."
"Did you tell Storm?" Evalle asked.
"Yes, but I haven't spoken to him since then, well, not in private-"
And you're not going to if I can do anything about it.
"-but I've heard more since then."
Realization hit Evalle at the same moment Nicole narrowed her eyes at Adrianna, but Evalle was first to speak. "You've been trading for information on Storm?"
"Not exactly, but you may view it that way."
"And you expect me to trust you to guide me into some dark realm."
Adrianna lifted a delicate eyebrow. "No, I don't expect you to do anything. Storm is depending on you, not me."
"Point taken." With little sleep and no sign of Storm in the mortal world, Evalle was getting testy. No point in taking it out on everyone around her. "What did you find out about Storm and this South American woman? Was it the witch doctor?"
Adrianna dipped her head in acknowledgement. "You're asking the correct questions. Yes, the woman asking about him is the witch doctor, a dark witch of the highest caliber."